Unreadable characters in all menus

[Guest]

Upon checking my computer this morning, it appeared that it had been
automatically restarted as though an update had been done. All of the menus
and everything else now display characters such as squares, half-circles,
question marks, triangles, and the like instead of letters and numerals. This
is also true of documents opened in Word. If it weren't for icons, I wouldn't
be able to determine how to do anything with the computer. It is as though
the language had been changed from English to one that uses an alphabet not
recognized by Windows XP. I am unable to check language and regional settings
because I cannot read the menus to find out what those settings might be.
Programs seem to operate normally in other respects. IE will display web
pages correctly for the most part although the radio buttons in Google show
these same weird characters.

 

[C J.]

Upon checking my computer this morning, it appeared that it had been
automatically restarted as though an update had been done. All of the
menus and everything else now display characters such as squares,
half-circles, question marks, triangles, and the like instead of
letters and numerals. This is also true of documents opened in Word.
If it weren't for icons, I wouldn't be able to determine how to do
anything with the computer. It is as though the language had been
changed from English to one that uses an alphabet not recognized by
Windows XP. I am unable to check language and regional settings
because I cannot read the menus to find out what those settings might
be. Programs seem to operate normally in other respects. IE will
display web pages correctly for the most part although the radio
buttons in Google show these same weird characters.

Strange problem you have there. Have you scanned for malware in safe mode
with Adaware SE, and Spybot Search and Destroy? Is your Anti Virus up to
date??

 

[John John]

Windows uses the Wingdings or Webdings font as its default display font
when you install updates with antivirus software running on a Windows
XP-based computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919752

John

 

[Guest]

Strange problem you have there. Have you scanned for malware in safe mode
with Adaware SE, and Spybot Search and Destroy? Is your Anti Virus up to
date??


My anti-virus (pc-cilin) is up to date. I am unable to run the other programs you suggest, even thought I have them available on my computer, because I can't read the menus and files in order to find them.

 

[Guest]

Windows uses the Wingdings or Webdings font as its default display font
when you install updates with antivirus software running on a Windows
XP-based computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919752

John


This does not appear to be the Wingding or Webding character set. Even if it is, the fix under the link that you supplied displays in this same unreadable character set.

 

[C J.]

Greg,

have you tried logging on to your PC on the built in administrator?
My thinking is if you can, and its normal looking in safe mode, you can scan
the computer from there.

Reboot and tap F8 until you get the Boot menu - select safe mode.
at welcome screen, log on to Administrator account. if its not password
protected, it will load right up.

Let us know.

 

[Guest]

Greg,

have you tried logging on to your PC on the built in administrator?
My thinking is if you can, and its normal looking in safe mode, you can scan
the computer from there.

Reboot and tap F8 until you get the Boot menu - select safe mode.
at welcome screen, log on to Administrator account. if its not password
protected, it will load right up.

Let us know.


I tried that. Regrettably, safe mode looks just like regular mode as far as the character display is concerned.

 

[C J.]

Hmm... while this development makes it tough - its not a total disaster yet.
We have a few options. The best one would be to slave your drive into a 2nd
PC and do your Malware scanning from there. I definitely wouldn't try a
"repair install" until we know the drive is clean because the potential to
make the situation worse is one well worth considering.

 

[Guest]

Upon checking my computer this morning, it appeared that it had been
automatically restarted as though an update had been done. All of the menus
and everything else now display characters such as squares, half-circles,
question marks, triangles, and the like instead of letters and numerals. This
is also true of documents opened in Word. If it weren't for icons, I wouldn't
be able to determine how to do anything with the computer. It is as though
the language had been changed from English to one that uses an alphabet not
recognized by Windows XP. I am unable to check language and regional settings
because I cannot read the menus to find out what those settings might be.
Programs seem to operate normally in other respects. IE will display web
pages correctly for the most part although the radio buttons in Google show
these same weird characters.

Here's some additional information that might be helpful. I have tried using
2 different restore points from earlier this week when the computer was
running fine. (I might add that this was a challenge since I had to guess
what the radio buttons said.) This did not alter the display at all: same
weird characters.

 

[Plato]

Upon checking my computer this morning, it appeared that it had been
automatically restarted as though an update had been done. All of the menus

In the future, dont let MS update your video drivers if they are working
OK.